Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to state aid approval to classify remote island wind as a separate technology in Pot 2 of the CfD scheme, whether he will consider other parts of the UK for inclusion in that classification where remoteness and the lack of electricity grid infrastructure or other reasons mean that it is very difficult to develop onshore wind in those areas.

The Government proposes to define remote island wind projects as being physically remote and requiring subsea connections from the islands to the Main Interconnected Transmission System. This means that these projects incur unavoidable higher transmission costs, which sets them apart from onshore wind projects located elsewhere in the UK. It is on this basis that the government intends to classify remote island wind as a distinct technology in Pot 2 of the Contracts for Difference scheme. The Government is not proposing to broaden the definition of remote island wind projects in the way that the hon. Member suggests.